My Christmas Week

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!

It's been almost two weeks sine I wrote my last post. Things have been very crazy with Christmas and the New Year, as I'm sure it has been with many of you. I went to New Mexico to visit my family again. I saw a lot of friends and went to Albuquerque's Old Town on Christmas Eve. I wish I had thought to take pictures for those of you who have never seen Albuquerque's luminarias. Here's a picture I found on http://www.itsatrip.org/events/featured/winter/holiday.aspx.

In the center is the gazebo where bands often play, and you commonly see people take pictures for formal events. This place is basically the center of Old Town, and the cathedral is just left of the photo. The paper bags on the ground are the luminarias. They are paper bags filled with sand and a candle (although many of them these days are electric). I think the luminarias are supposed to light the way to a new year or something (I might have just made that up), but they look beautiful. There's a section of town around Rio Grande rd. where people decorate entire neighborhoods in lights and these luminarias. Most years, some friends and I will travel these neighborhoods and see all the lights they've put on display. A lot of other people do this as well, as is shown by the amount of traffic around ^_^ It's wonderful to do though. I suggest any of you who visit Albuquerque on Christmas Eve go!

We were able to spend some time talking to my brother over face time. I don't know how much I've talked about Sigmund, but he's living in China right now teaching English as a second language in the schools there. He got a degree in business, a friend he invited to college invited him to visit China, and he's been there since. I don't know how long he will be there, but he's enjoying it so far, and he's already done a few years.

My New Years Resolution: Finish This Book!

I did some writing over the last couple weeks, but I was really getting bored with writing profiles for everyone. I saw a lot of benefit in it, and it's help me figure out where my story is going, but it's also not as fun as sitting down to write. I think that if someone had more patience than me and was good at thinking about things, they would really benefit from this writing method, but I need something to keep me engaged.

I'm going to keep the notes I wrote, and I will probably expand them as I go. I found especial use in talking about the characters, since I know who I am going to be working with now. As far as the story goes, I don't know enough about it to write a 10-page summary. I want to take the characters and see what they do and how they act. In the next chapter, I introduce the other main character, Kælon, and his closest friend, Renzoku. I haven't decided how many perspectives I'm going to write from, but I will write from Kælon's and Natalie's for sure. 

I have considered writing from the perspective of Curthadir or some of the other members of his council, but they know a lot about what's going on and would probably ruin the story for those of you reading this. When I read a book or play a game, I think it's more fun to have to learn as things go instead of seeing things ahead of time. I think of Harry Potter and how Dumbledor knew that Harry had to die, but if we knew that from his perspective, it would have ruined the story for us. 

I want to write from more perspectives that just Natalie and Kælon though. I will probably use Renzoku and someone that Natalie meets for other perspectives. Those four will probably be the main perspectives with a few "guest speakers" as I go. I know a couple of you have been good at reading and commenting so far. Thank you. What do you think about this idea? ^_^ I am glad to have any ideas you can offer. For anyone who has a thought about this book, please offer it! That's why I'm writing it here.

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Making Your Story More Interesting

A Continuation of Things I Learned from Reading Dracula

This blog is the rest of the article started at Ideas for Narrating Your Novel.

3) Have enemies who are terrifying and enemies who you feel empathy/sympathy toward. 

Dracula was a scary opponent. When Jonathan Harker met the vampire women and realized Dracula was something other than human, it was creepy. Some parts of the story that related to Dracula bordered on scary. He made a really good enemy, although I thought they defeated him too easily. (I guess if he hadn’t been asleep, there was no way they could have won.)

As scary as Dracula was, though, he wasn’t my favorite villain. I guess Renfield might not be considered a villain, but he basically was because he helped Dracula and had a habit of eating living things. All he needed was black clothes and he’d be a pretty standard Batman villain. Even his psychosis fit!

The thing I really like about Renfield, though, was that he wasn’t purely evil. He showed a full range of emotions. While Van Helsing was the epitome of good and Dracula was the epitome of evil, Renfield was the confused guy who gets used by the main villain. I could almost understand where Renfield came from, and I even admired him when he attacked Dracula. How often can you say you admired a villain?!

When you write, most characters should be a mixture of good and evil. While it may make sense for a few characters to be pretty much pure evil or pure good, the majority of characters should be able to be tempted by ease, money, a relationship, power, or something else. I think it makes for a much more interesting character when you come to the end of the novel and realize, “I don’t know if he was a good character or a bad one!”

One of my favorite historical characters is Rommel. He is one of history’s greatest military generals, but he lived when Hitler started WW2. I don’t know how true the following story is, but I remember it from high school. Apparently Rommel said that he didn’t like or agree with Hitler, but he would live and die for his country. Because of this philosophy, he did more damage to the Allied forces than almost anyone else in Germany, but he also defied the leader of his country and died for it. He is a great example of what a character in a novel should be.

4) Don’t be afraid to impair and/or kill some key characters

Early in the novel, Mina’s friend, Lucy becomes a vampire. Later in the novel, Mina becomes the victim of Dracula and begins to suffer from eating his blood. She is scarred by the wafer and eventually has to be trapped by Van Helsing so she won’t escape to join the vampire women. Quincy also falls prey to the fight against Dracula. He dies in a heroic mission to kill Dracula.

I wonder if Bram Stoker ever sat in front of his paper and shook his head because Quincy was about to die, but he knew that it was the only way to kill Dracula. I wonder if he winced when Mina drank the blood from Dracula’s chest, but he knew that it was the next move Dracula would make, so he had to write about it. 

When you are writing your novel, it’s important to stay true to the characters you’ve created. Bringing characters back from the dead or saving them from a desperate situation can be awesome, but it can also be extremely cheesy. Be careful when you do something that wouldn’t normally happen!

I read about a comic (which I can’t remember of the name right now….) where the hero was trapped in a steel box, flying through space at the end of one episode. Apparently everyone who read it couldn’t figure out how he was going to get out, and they were really excited to see what happened. In the next episode, he showed up in New York to save the day without any explanation whatsoever. 

Don’t do that to your reader! When you write your novel, think about what you are going to do; make sure it can happen within the rules that exist for your universe. Some characters will die heroically; others will die for something stupid. Some characters, who you might not like, will live. It’s okay. Let you characters get hurt if that’s something that should happen.

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Ideas for Narrating Your Novel

Taking a Break from Character Creation

The process of creating characters for The Netherworld and trying to decide the basic plot has been harder than I would have imagined. I’ve had to think a lot about each person’s goals and desires and pasts and futures. I see why Ingermason says to take an hour for each character. It’s also difficult to decide which characters are going to be main characters and which will be secondary. 

I’m sure I will create more as the story progresses, but this blog is about the experience of writing a book. I think a lot about the storyline as I do stuff during my day. I have some awesome ideas for how I want things to look, but it’s hard to write them down so that someone else will see them like I do. I really wish I could draw, but oh well.

 I’m glad for all the comments you have left so far. I welcome any thoughts, criticisms, or suggestions!

What I learned from Reading Dracula

William Faulkner said, “"Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window." I’m starting to agree. The more I read the more I learn about how to write.

I’ve continued reading to get inspiration for my story. I’m not a very fast reader, so it has taken a long time to finish Dracula. I guess it’s only been about a month, which is faster than I have read most books, but I’ve also had a lot of free time since it’s winter. 

I’ve picked up quite a few ideas about writing from reading Dracula that I’d like to share with you. These ideas focus on how to tell the story. So far, I’ve posted a few blogs about creating characters and getting your novel started. This one is about narrating a novel, or telling a story.

1) Use multiple points of view in order to create picture!

Bram Stoker switched between multiple points of view throughout Dracula. Each of the main characters gets time in the limelight. As the reader, I got to see things from each character’s perspectives. I mentioned this technique when I started reading Dracula, but now that I’m done, I’m more convinced than ever that it’s a great way to write a book. 

If the story had been written from only Jonathan’s perspective, I wouldn’t have known each of the characters as well as I did. By the end of the story, I felt like Van Helsing was an old friend of mine, even though I probably would never be good friends with a professor in real life. It was exciting to see how each character felt about what was happening. It made me sad to read from Mina’s perspective a lot, though, since she had to deal with so much.

As I’ve been writing my novel, I’ve been switching between perspectives a little, but I think I want to do it a little more and make sure that everything in a specific section is seen from just one character’s perspective. I may need to go back and update the first two chapters, but I’m not sure yet. 

Instead of changing the novel from one person to another at the end of each chapter, I’m going to do it within chapters as well. I’m going to use chapters to show that I’m changing from one group of people to another, but within that group, I’m going to use just a line break to show the change in perspectives. What do you all think about this method?

2) Give each character a purpose in the story. Don’t let one hog the show.

In Dracula, each character had a specific purpose and something helpful to contribute to the group. Jonathan Harker was resourceful, but not knowledgeable. Van Helsing was courageous and knowledgeable, but he wasn’t young and agile. Quincy had strength to contribute, and Mina added an interesting twist to a number of places in the novel.

As I think about my novel, it’s easy to think a lot about Natalie and Kælon while leaving the others out. Dracula was more interesting because the characters needed each other and often had to split up which caused interesting problems, but it also allowed them to succeed in the end. Dracula was only one person. Maybe this says something about teamwork versus doing things on your own:p

When writing your novel, keep in mind that fiction shouldn’t be too much different than reality, even in a fantasy world like mine. I think we’ve all heard the saying, “No man is an island” (I just looked it up. It’s a poem by John Donne). Writing a story about one character who can do everything alone is a lot more boring because no one can relate to it. Even James Bond had Q and M to help him out, and he was really good at working alone!

Sadly, I ran out of time to finish this tonight, so I will post this blog in 2 parts. 

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Kultas son of Hedan - Profile

Kultas son of Hedan of the line of Huar

Age 48

Kultas is the hidden eldest child of the line of Huar. He must regain his family's honor by doing the task given to the sons of Huar, by opposing the Korgar.

Motivation

Kultas keeps his identity a secret as his father before him out of fear of the Demon Lords. When his son is taken captive, Kultas realizes that if he does not fight, the fight will come to him. Kultas fights the demons out of a love for his family and as a way to regain the honor of the line of Huar.

Goal/Desire

Kultas wants nothing more than to be a man like the men of old in the Huar line. Iskatar asks him, as heir to the throne to oppose the Korgar openly so that unrest will spread through the cities. Kultas knows that the open treachery he is being asked to commit will result in his death, but he wants to do it for the sake of his son and Iskatar.

Conflict

Kultas spent his life hiding from the pain and suffering that comes from taking the higher and more courageous road. When warriors from the east ask to train Kælon, Kultas struggles with the realization that he must let his son go. When Iskatar asks Kultas to act with courage that will cost his life but offer his son a chance to reclaim the throne, he struggles with the courage to do it. Finally, he fights the Korgar and their lieges openly.

Epiphany

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. It takes the capture of his son to realize that physical pain and death may not be the hardest thing in life to endure. When Iskatar visits Kultas, he is scared of the task put before him, but knows that his family's fear has only enslaved the entire planet to the Korgar. Perhaps an act of courage will set them free.

Summary

Kultas comes from a line of men who have hidden from the task handed down to them from generation to generation. He himself hides from the task set to him until his son is taken captive by the Korgar’s troops. Kultas then sets himself to be a king worthy of the lineage he comes from. Iskatar tells him that he must stand against the Korgar, at Turin Phor (the keep of light), but that He will die if he does. Kultas commends his son to the hands of warriors from the east then takes his troops to reclaim Turin Phor.

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Renzoku son of Rashir - Profile

Renzoku son of Rashir of the line of Dromond

Age 23

Renzoku is Kælon's best friend. Renzoku is a carefree character who only concerns himself with the things that directly concern him; once Kælon is captured, his life and priorities change. 

Motivation

Renzoku is loyal to his friends, yet holds his comforts close. His goals are protecting and providing for friends in the best environment possible. While trouble remains, he will fight for his survival and that of his friends.

Goal/Desire

Renzoku desires to be Kælon’s right-hand. While they’ve always been rivals in many regards and learned many things from one another, Renzoku respects the gravity of Kælon’s situation and quickly comes to his defense.

Conflict

Renzoku’s main goal is protecting his friend and all that Kælon stands for, but many foes and chances for an easier life stand in Renzoku’s way. When danger comes against his friends, he is often first into the fray. This places his life on the edge of a knife.

Epiphany

Renzoku realizes that in order to have any peace in life, his life must be first about others. Renzoku refuses a life of comfort for the love of others and is willing to give his life for that.

Summary

When Renzoku and Kælon are on a hunting trip, Kælon is taken captive. Renzoku follows them then gets the village elders to lead a rescue attempt on Kælon. When Renzoku’s friend returns scared, changed, and the rightful heir to the throne, Renzoku is quick to take up the come to Kælon’s aid. He stands in adamant support of Kælon and his return to the throne even though many lures of comfort attempt to draw him away. Renzoku follows Kælon into death, back to the land of the living, and eventually to the valley where Kælon’s armies make war against the Korgar.

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Kælon son of Kultas - Profile

Kælon son of Kultas of the line of Huar

Age 20

Kælon, as the son of an ancient line of kings, must find Iskatar and overcome the Korgar so that Ardiil may once again be ruled in peace.

Motivation

Kælon is motivated by the cries of the people, the help of the council, and the death of his father at the hands of the Korgar. His desire is to be king for the sake of vengeance upon the Korgar.

           

Goal/Desire

Kælon is an adventure-seeker. His desire is to be a part of something great. Once his father is killed, Kælon's new desire is revenge. Iskatar helps Kælon overcome this desire by replacing this false worldview with an understanding of the world as it is.

Conflict

The Lords of Darkness believe that with Kælon dies their final threat. In this belief, they are consumed with the capture and eventual death of the line of Huor. The Demon Lords and Kælon's own fear prevent him from being who he was made to be.

Epiphany

Kælon learns the needs of a king to not only have courage but also honesty, friends, and loyalty. When he realizes that life is not lived for oneself, then he is able to be a king in the true legacy of the sons of Huar. Kælon learns that once the Korgar lose control of people's irrational fear, they are conquerable.

Summary

Kælon grew up without any knowledge of his heritage. After being captured by a band belonging to the Korgar, Kælon learns that he is a son of the legendary line of kings. Kælon receives his training at the hands of two council members with the goal of joining his father in the fight against the Korgar. When his father is killed in an attempt to incite an uprising against the Korgar, he is quickly ushered to the Netherworld where he must find Iskatar if he hopes to fight the Korgar. Kælon develops the loyalty of his friends, wins the trust of the people of Ardiil, and meets the Lords of Darkness in open field in an Armageddon sort of battle.

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Natalie Dumar - Profile

Natalie Dumar

Age 18

Natalie, who finds herself in Ardiil, must find Iskatar and complete her quest of helping Kælon obtain the throne.

Motivation

Natalie desires to be in a place where she is loved. Her fear and distrust of everyone makes her short-tempered and afraid. Natalie is seeking meaning and purpose.

Goal/Desire

Natalie's first goal is to complete her training with Curthadir, which requires that she rid herself of fear. After that Natalie desires to reestablish the kingdom Iskatar set up.

Conflict

Natalie's fear keeps her from reaching full potential and grants her the inability to trust others. The Korgar are a strong group with many followers. A fear among the people of Ardiil allows the Korgar to stay in power.

Epiphany

Natalie learns from Curthadir that there is really nothing to fear save what we force ourselves to fear. Natalie learns that the common philosophy is that we live because we're afraid to die; we die because we cannot live. But the one who does not know fear will not know death. 

Summary

Sarah flees from her father with her mother's pendant to the world of Ardiil. There she is trained by the seer, Curthadir, and sent on a quest to find Iskatar. Along this road she finds Kælon and becomes his escort to Iskatar. While traveling together, Natalie helps Kælon overcome grow into the man that he needs to be in order to lead a nation. Upon the death of Curthadir, Natalie is moved to the position of Seer in the council of six. In this position, she takes up Curthadir's conviction that Kælon must be king of Ardiil. In defense of this belief, Natalie gives everything she has, including her life.

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